


shield you from the rain

by loosingletters



Series: light [18]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Brief discussion of slavery, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Underage, Padawan Anakin Skywalker, Past Child Abuse, Protective Obi-Wan Kenobi, Underage Drinking, discussion of sex, good communication
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-24
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-16 23:08:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,232
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28964388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/loosingletters/pseuds/loosingletters
Summary: “Did you want to have sex with the informant?” Obi-Wan asked carefully, tricking his tongue so it would not hiss curses.“Eh, not really,” Anakin replied, but then shrugged. “But if it had helped the mission, I would have done it. It’s not different from racing a speeder or any other favor.”Or, Obi-Wan learns during a mission that his Padawan has a very different perspective on sex and sets out to make sure nobody will take advantage of Anakin.
Relationships: Obi-Wan Kenobi & Anakin Skywalker
Series: light [18]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1739998
Comments: 31
Kudos: 570
Collections: New SW Canon Server Works





	shield you from the rain

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for fluff day. It's hurt/comfort so,,, nailed it?  
> That being said, please mind the tags on this fanfic. Anakin is 14 and while nothing happens to him - or happened - he still does not think there'd be anything wrong with it. Please take care of yourself and tell me if I need to add a tag!
> 
> Many thanks to @ghostwriterofthemachine who helped me with the title and rating!
> 
> That being said, have fun!

Obi-Wan had known from the first moment on that they never should have taken this mission. Ever since they had left the hangers, he had felt a deep and dark pit lurking just outside of his reach, taunting him with promises of pain to come. He did his best to shield it from Anakin, ever so sensitive to Obi-Wan’s presence in his mind, and thankfully it went unnoticed with Anakin much too excited at the prospect of this mission. Unlike Obi-Wan, he’d looked forward to getting away from the stiffy Core Worlds and deep into the Outer Rim.

Obi-Wan had been less excited about it. This wasn’t the kind of environment he wanted Anakin in, not yet at least, not when he was still so young. It had been five years already since he had left Tatooine, but most of the time that didn’t feel like a great enough distance despite Anakin’s growth. Anakin’s inner strength had developed immensely and he had grown physically as well. Gone was the malnourished and underweight boy, who reminded Obi-Wan of a bird whenever he carried him, replaced by a healthy teenager.

Obi-Wan couldn’t be more proud of him.

Regardless of Obi-Wan’s pride for his student, the galaxy was still a place filled with horrors much more gruesome than even his visions could imagine and he wanted to protect Anakin from all of them.

Learning how to trust Padawan to protect themselves to no longer need you to stand straight on their own was, as he still struggled to accept, a Master’s greatest challenge. He knew that all students would always need their teachers on some level, but as they grew, it became a question of when they should interfere. Qui-Gon’s loss still hurt him and there were so many occasions where Obi-Wan wanted to ask him for his guidance, knowing quite well that Qui-Gon wouldn’t say a thing that Obi-Wan agreed with, but it would still help him figure out his own thoughts.

And now Anakin was paying for Obi-Wan’s misstep.

_“Hands off.”_

The Nautolan whose hands had been dangerously low on Anakin’s hips only looked up in mild annoyance, not at all bothered by Obi-Wan’s appearance or barely constrained choice of words. “Do you have a problem?”

Yes, Obi-Wan had several problems. The half-empty glass of liquor that Anakin had downed, his obviously inebriated state, the fact that a _grown adult_ had thought they could get handsy with his Padawan.

It took all of Obi-Wan’s self-control to not simply break the man’s spine into a thousand shards. “If you want to walk out of this bar with all limbs intact, back off now.”

The man’s hold on Anakin only tightened and his Padawan didn’t do a thing. Where Anakin was usually a spitfire, he now was so, so silent and still. He didn’t react when the Nautolan manhandled and Obi-Wan saw _red_.

“We can share him if you—”

Obi-Wan didn’t wait for the man to finish.

With a well-aimed Force push, he threw the man halfway through the bar, sending him crashing into the wall. He was alive and by far not as hurt as Obi-Wan, in this moment, wanted him to be. He was better than the anger inside him, the tension that pushed him down, but for the split second that his mind was entirely _his_ , Obi-Wan wanted to put his protective fury to use.

And then Anakin reached out to him, sharper than a blade’s edge, with more control than he ought to have when drunk.

“Master?” Anakin looked at him in confusion and, this Obi-Wan noticed with surprise, thinly-veiled anger.

“We are leaving,” Obi-Wan declared. He left a few credits on the counter, flashing his lightsaber as he did so in a blatant abuse of power and authority his station as a Jedi gifted him. The bartender only paled and hastily accepted the money, not making another comment as Obi-Wan took Anakin’s arm.

Obi-Wan rushed to get his Padawan out of the bar and didn’t slow down until they were far the street, away from the bar and the red-light district. He never should have accepted this mission. Anakin was too young. What had he been thinking, taking his underage Padawan on this mission?

He looked around to see if they were being observed, but to his relief, the alley they had escaped to was deserted. Nobody would see their conversation or attack them here. They couldn’t cause too much of a commotion in a place like this, but they were at least a little shielded in the shadows.

Obi-Wan calmed enough to take a good look at Anakin. He was flushed, but not from whatever alcohol he had drunken, no, from anger. His robes were mostly fine, only a little disorderly where the man had tugged at them. Obi-Wan felt his anger rise again when he saw the bruise—no, the _hickey_ on his Padawan’s neck.

“Anakin, are you alright?” Obi-Wan asked, attempting not to let his panic bleed through their bond when he felt no worries or discomfort from Anakin’s side of it.

“Am I— Yes, of course!” Anakin replied hot-headedly, throwing up his hands. “What were you doing?”

Obi-Wan couldn’t believe his Padawan. Had Anakin not taken any notice of the danger he’d been in?

“Getting you out of there,” Obi-Wan replied, channeling Master Nu’s no-nonsense attitude. “I shouldn’t have taken you there in the first place. This was a mistake.”

In all the missions they had been on together already, Obi-Wan had experienced terror and fear. He had been disappointed and frustrated with himself and the failings of his tutelage, but no emotion had come as close to the horror he was feeling now.

His fourteen-year-old Padawan got molested because he hadn’t been quick enough to interfere.

“But _why_?” Anakin asked. “Everything was under control.”

Disbelief swept Obi-wan up like the storms of Mon Cala, uncaring of what it might break when it had him in its grasp. “Anakin, do you have any idea what that man wanted to do?”

“Yes, give me the information for tomorrow’s race,” Anakin replied with an eye roll. “Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been talking to him, _obviously_. I’m not stupid, Master.”

Obi-Wan exhaled, focused, forced himself to stay calm. “That’s not what I’m talking about. Anakin, you are fourteen.”

“So?” Anakin’s previous anger disappeared in a cloud of confusion, a harsh contrast to the winds cutting Obi-Wan’s soul. “We needed the information. And it’s just sex.”

_It’s just sex._

The words echoed in Obi-Wan’s head and tranquility struggled to contain his nausea. Anakin’s face was still round, adolescence not yet having stolen away all of his baby fat. He had acne and his voice was still at that awkward stage where it couldn’t quite decide what pitch it wanted to be.

He was a child. He very obviously read as a child, a teenager, to every other sentient. It wasn’t like humans belonged to the more uncommon species and nobody knew when they reached maturity. Anakin looked like a child and nobody should have approached him in the first place.

“Later,” Obi-Wan said, choking on ashes. “We are going back to the hotel and then we will have a talk.”

“But—”

“No, Anakin. I don’t want to hear another word right now.”

He _couldn’t_ hear another word out of his Padawan’s mouth.

The walk back to their dwellings was mostly quiet. Anakin had taken to pouting, yet another action only serving to emphasize his youth. This entire trip was one nightmare Obi-Wan wasn’t sure he’d wake up from. Once they reached their rooms, Obi-Wan set up the kettle to pour himself and Anakin a cup of tea as he sent Anakin off to get changed and showered. As predicted, Anakin took long enough that all the hot water must have run out. When he stepped out of the fresher, he was in comfortable nightclothes and his hair stuck up in all directions. Obi-Wan couldn’t help his gaze being drawn to the purple hickey on Anakin’s neck, standing out against his light skin. He tried not to stare at it and focus on his own task instead.

“You can pick the tea,” he told Anakin as he cleaned himself quickly. Barely ten minutes later, they were both done, curled up on the sofa with a cup of tea. Anakin was staring at him expectantly, awaiting an explanation, and Obi-Wan was at a loss for words.

He didn’t even know where to begin.

“Anakin,” he started. His throat felt dry despite the tea he was drinking. “Could you slowly explain to me what you were doing tonight?”

“Why?” Anakin asked. “So that you can judge me?”

“No,” Obi-wan replied quickly, projecting _peace, quiet, and support_. “I want to understand. Pretend this is a mission report to the Council.”

Anakin pulled a face. “You know I hate those.”

“Then it’s practice. Take as much time as you need.”

“Fine,” Anakin groaned. When he saw that his obvious complaining didn’t derail Obi-Wan, he sighed. “Our mission was to track down an arms dealer who apparently enjoys betting on races…” Anakin continued talking Obi-Wan through their mission and every step they had taken up until they had entered the bar. For once, Obi-Wan didn’t interrupt with questions, asking Anakin for more details. He simply let his Padawan talk.

“I found the informant. He was eyeing me the entire time. I thought it was because he had spotted my lightsaber, but I reached out with the Force and couldn’t sense anything like that. So I decided to go to him and see what he would do.”

Anakin paused, likely already expecting a lecture. Under any other circumstances, Obi-wan would have lectured him about protocol and listening to his Master, but right now he thought it would only end up counterproductive. “Go on.”

Anakin frowned suspiciously but then continued. “Well, then he started to flirt with me, bought me a drink, and I went along with it. Figured that if it’s just sex, it’s not that big of a deal.”

And there they were again, stuck on a topic that apparently didn’t even register as significant in Anakin’s mind.

“Anakin, why do you think that sex is no big deal?” Obi-Wan took care to exactly repeat Anakin’s words to him, attempting to stay within his choice of words and thought.

Anakin blinked. “It’s just something people do? If you’re lucky, you have a good time or earn good cash, and if you’re less lucky, then that happens, and you hope your med stock is good enough to fix all damages.”

Right.

 _Fuck_.

Obi-Wan was not equipped to deal with this in any way. There was so much to unpack right here and not a single lesson he had ever been given or held himself had prepared him for such a conversation. Obi-Wan knew that he had to answer, no matter how reluctant to. Anakin was looking at him, waiting for an explanation why he had reacted so harshly, why the thought of a grown man wanting to fuck his underage Padawan was setting off all his alarm bells.

He had to figure out the root of this. It seemed like a good first step to ask about his Padawan’s past experiences. This was not an issue that came up with temple-raised younglings, but Anakin hadn’t been brought up within the safe walls of Coruscant’s halls. Obi-Wan didn’t think he had seen Anakin involved in anything resembling sexual on their past missions, but his worry made him doubt everything. “Anakin, have you had sex before?”

Anakin shook his head. “No. Watto didn’t want to sell me like that. He was afraid I’d get too hurt and lose my value. But I’ve seen plenty on it on Tatooine.”

Tatooine explained too much about Anakin for Obi-Wan’s liking. He had thought that after all these years with the Jedi, Anakin would have already shared everything about that planet with him. And yet here he was, days away from Coruscant and any Master who could possibly give him advice on this situation, needing to deal with it immediately.

“Did you want to have sex with the informant?” Obi-Wan asked carefully, tricking his tongue so it would not hiss curses.

“Eh, not really,” Anakin replied, but then shrugged. “But if it had helped the mission, I would have done it. It’s not different from racing a speeder or any other favor.”

And that was the crux of the matter. Obi-Wan let out a low breath. “Sex actually is very different from both,” Obi-Wan said. “First of, I know things might be different on Tatooine, but as long as you are not a human adult, you shouldn’t have sex.”

That was not an _entirely_ correct statement. Obi-Wan could very much remember sneaking away when he wasn’t eighteen, but that wasn’t going to make explaining this to Anakin any easier. “Sex is something that should happen between two consenting adults because they both want the act itself, not any benefits that they might get out of it, such as information, for example.”

Anakin looked at Obi-Wan as if he had grown a second head. “But that doesn’t make sense. What about sex workers? They have sex for plenty of things.”

His Padawan would not be his Padawan if he didn’t ask the difficult questions. Anakin stared at Obi-Wan as if he were sure his Master was just trying to play a trick on him, use this as an excuse to go through another learning evaluation.

“Some choose that profession willingly, which is perfectly legal. For others, their circumstances are such that they have no other option. The first is their free choice while the second is not but a decision they are pressured to make.”

“But they get money for it. And I don’t see why that is any different from me getting information. It’s the same thing!”

Now Anakin’s eyes narrowed. They were dangerously close to an explosion, anger lashing out like a burning sun flare, scorching the surface of a planet until nothing remained.

This reaction was a familiar one, at least. Obi-Wan knew how he had to act around Anakin when he behaved like this. De-escalation and reassurance were the keys. Obi-Wan couldn’t let Anakin jump off the cliff now and he had to make sure that Anakin didn’t think he was judging him for anything.

“Anakin, I’m not mad at you,” Obi-Wan said slowly, emphasizing every word.

“But you are acting like it!” Anakin replied quickly, arms crossed in front of his chest as he pulled his knees up to them. Curled up like this, he looked even younger. Dear Force, someone had looked at his Padawan and thought —

_Let it go._

“Anakin, I am honest and I will repeat myself until you understand it. I am not mad at you or your choices. There is no universe where I could be mad at you for tonight. I was and I still am terribly scared for you.”

Anakin blinked. “But why?”

Obi-Wan held back a sarcastic snort, a hysteric revelation. In any other situation, this might have been the right course of action, lightening the mood, easing the tension in Anakin’s shoulders. Right now, Obi-Wan feared it would only be counterproductive.

“I thought the man might hurt you. That someone in the future will because you think this is the easiest path with the least resistance for everyone but yourself. You are incredibly strong and smart and I am more proud of you than I could possibly put into words, but you have so much space to grow still and some people think they can take advantage of that.”

Silence fell between them and Anakin avoided his eyes, staring at his hands instead. Obi-Wan wanted to look into his apprentice’s mind, learn what was going on inside that maze of his, which cog and gear were out of tune and how Obi-Wan could help them run smoothly. This switch in Anakin’s thinking wasn’t an action Obi-Wan could do for Anakin. He could only give him a guidebook and befitting instructions. The rest he would have to figure out for himself.

“So I’m supposed to never have sex on a mission?” Anakin finally spoke up.

“Or outside of one if you don’t want to enjoy the experience,” Obi-Wan added.

Anakin slowly nodded. “Alright. Got it.”

Somehow Obi-Wan got the impression that Anakin only agreed with him so they could drop the topic. It wouldn’t be a new tactic in Anakin’s arsenal. He always fell back on it when he thought he knew better or was uncomfortable with their discussion topic.

“Thank you for listening to me,” Obi-Wan told him anyway. His smile was not as genuine and honest as it could be, but he tried to make use of all the advice he had gotten from other Masters or the dozens of datapad on teaching stored in the archive. “And I am happy to know you take this mission seriously and want it to succeed.”

Anakin returned his smile slightly hesitantly, but it was there. He always did react best to positive reinforcement.

“Now, I think we deserve a break, don’t we?” Obi-Wan asked. He honestly _needed_ one for his own sanity and to figure out what the hell he was going to tell the Council about this development.

If he could pick what to do next, he’d like to bundle Anakin up and sit them both down on their sofa back in their rooms, Anakin’s little jungle surrounding them, and do nothing for at least a week.

As soon as they returned home, Obi-Wan would ensure they’d be taken off the rotation for Outer Rim Missions. He wanted to deal with nothing more than boring court politics for the next half year. Maybe a few more weeks on Senate duty could also be tossed into their portfolio. Obi-Wan and Anakin were good fighters, so they usually ended up on action-heavier missions, but Anakin could definitely use some more diplomacy. Really, Obi-Wan would do just about anything to get away from the Outer Rim and all those sickening could-have-beens of Anakin’s childhood.

“But what about the mission?” Anakin asked. “We still need to gather info.”

“We can do so tomorrow,” Obi-Wan decided and stood up. They still had time to spare. It would be alright. “I’m actually starving and we deserve something sweet as a snack now.”

Anakin pointedly rolled his eyes in all his teenage glory. Obi-Wan couldn’t recall ever sassing his Master like that at such a young age. Where did Anakin get it from?

“You always want to eat sweet stuff, Master,” Anakin insisted.

“Not always. I do like the meals you make for us at home as well. We should eat something nice once we are back at the temple.”

“My fruits should be ripe when we’re back,” Anakin mused out loud and followed Obi-Wan into their small kitchen. “I could make a salad with them? Or you could bake them.”

“That would be quite lovely,” Obi-Wan replied.

The two of them got to work, preparing a small meal and as he worked with Anakin by his side, Obi-Wan almost felt settled again. He wouldn’t let his Padawan out of his eyes for a while, especially not until they had left this planet, but right now, Anakin was still here and he was alright.

Obi-Wan could breathe.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I'd love to hear what you think!


End file.
